Tony Mandarich admits to steroid use in college (1 Viewer)

[Dexter Manley]

The interesting thing to me is that he claims to have never roided up in the nfl. He was obviously a pedestrian player when off the juice.

I think this is good for the nfl's image. It shows that their performance enhancing drug policy has been an effective deterrant.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/foot...h.ap/index.html

NEW YORK (AP) -- Former NFL draft bust Tony Mandarich says he used steroids at Michigan State and faked a drug test before the 1988 Rose Bowl.

He also said during an interview on "Inside the NFL" that will air Wednesday on Showtime that he did not use steroids in the NFL but was addicted to alcohol and painkillers.

Mandarich, whose autobiography will be released in March, said he provided a fake urine sample to evade detection before the '88 Rose Bowl in which Michigan State beat Southern California 20-17. Mandarich said he couldn't confirm a report that other players did the same.

The offensive lineman was the No. 2 overall pick in 1989 by the Packers. He lasted just three years with Green Bay amid rumors of steroid use.

"I got to the point where it was a struggle to work out three or four times a week because the priority of getting high was above the priority of working out," Mandarich said in the interview.

 

[efactor]

No surprise. He was one of those guys you could tell was roided up just by his appearance. Going bald at age 22 with acne all over his back (SI pictures of him working out before the draft). Most hyped OL that I can ever remember and maybe the biggest bust this side of Ryan Leaf for a guy that actually hung around the league a while. I remember Reggie White tossing him around like a rag doll. Good stuff..........

Didn't the Pack pass on Barry Sanders for him?

 

[CletiusMaximus]

some more detail from Jsonline.com:

Mandarich reveals addictionBy Bob WolfleyTuesday, Sep 30 2008, 11:44 AMTony Mandarich, who was taken No. 2 overall by the Packers in the 1989 draft, says in an interview he was addicted to alcohol and painkillers the entire time he played in Green Bay.Mandarich also admits for the first time he used anabolic steroids while he played at Michigan State.Mandarich, a tackle, played for the Packers from 1989 to '91. He was drafted one spot behind Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman and one spot ahead of Detroit running back Barry Sanders. Mandarich made these revelations during an interview with Armen Keteyian, the chief investigative correspondent for CBS News. That interview is to air Wednesday night on Showtime's "Inside the NFL," a program produced by CBS Sports. Mandarich says he entered the NFL as an addict."There's other factors that were involved that nobody knows about that were way more of an effect on why I had the huge downfall in Green Bay than steroids (such as) drug and alcohol abuse. ... I was injecting a drug called Stadol ... and it was euphoric. I went from doing one injection on that one day, and a week later I was doing between five to seven shots a day for the next three years."Mandarich says he preferred getting high to working out when he was in Green Bay."(I) was not the same person they drafted. ... I got to the point where it was a struggle to work out three or four times a week because the priority of getting high was above the priority of working out," Mandarich said.Mandarich says he supplied a fake urine sample to the NCAA prior to the 1988 Rose Bowl while he was at Michigan State."That is correct," Mandarich said. "You got to improvise. You got to improvise."Mandarich, who was suspected of using steroids, has repeatedly denied he used them. "I used them," Mandarich said. "I used them ... and this is the first time I ever said it. ... If I would have come out and said it, I think it would have affected a lot of other people that were doing the same things."Mandarich plans to publish a book about his life in March. But he said he will not name names in the same manner Jose Canseco did in his book."I don't think that you should benefit off other people's shortcomings," Mandarich said. "In my opinion, Jose Canseco is an (expletive) for what he did, the way he did it. I mean that's chicken (expletive)."In his 1988 season for the Spartans, Mandarich was a first-team All-Amercan for the Spartans and was named the Big Ten Conference lineman of the year for the second consecutive season. He was touted by some as the best offensive line prospect in history. Sports Illustrated in a cover story called him "The Incredible Bulk."

 

[BigRed]

I think he blew out a knee early on. Mighta kinda made a diff. And he actually came back later and was a decent OL for the Colts for a year or 3.

 

[Dexter Manley]

Didn't the Pack pass on Barry Sanders for him?

Yes. And Derrick Thomas. And Deon Sanders.

 

[TakiToki]

No surprise. He was one of those guys you could tell was roided up just by his appearance. Going bald at age 22 with acne all over his back (SI pictures of him working out before the draft). Most hyped OL that I can ever remember and maybe the biggest bust this side of Ryan Leaf for a guy that actually hung around the league a while. I remember Reggie White tossing him around like a rag doll. Good stuff..........

Didn't the Pack pass on Barry Sanders for him?

Next three players selected after Mandarich were Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas and Deion Sanders. Ouch.

 

[travdogg]

No surprise. He was one of those guys you could tell was roided up just by his appearance. Going bald at age 22 with acne all over his back (SI pictures of him working out before the draft). Most hyped OL that I can ever remember and maybe the biggest bust this side of Ryan Leaf for a guy that actually hung around the league a while. I remember Reggie White tossing him around like a rag doll. Good stuff..........

Didn't the Pack pass on Barry Sanders for him?

He was a much bigger bust than Leaf in my opinion.

 

[Tanner9919]

No surprise. He was one of those guys you could tell was roided up just by his appearance. Going bald at age 22 with acne all over his back (SI pictures of him working out before the draft). Most hyped OL that I can ever remember and maybe the biggest bust this side of Ryan Leaf for a guy that actually hung around the league a while. I remember Reggie White tossing him around like a rag doll. Good stuff..........Didn't the Pack pass on Barry Sanders for him?

not necessarily indicative of steroid use, common misconception...take a look at some bodybuilding mags, you don't see many of them with acne-filled backs, but you just know they're on the sauce..anyways, Tony M. was asked when did he think his career was over.he said it was in one of his first games ( if I'm not mistaken it was a preseason game), when Reggie White lined up opposite him and blew his doors off , on one of the first plays of the game..he said he knew, then and there, that his career wasn't going to go as planned..I remember him being interviewed somewhere in Wi., on his deck, saying he can't wait for the first sunday of the NFL season, so he can kick back on his deck and watch the games with an ice-tea in his hand...he looked like he was about 200 lbs..thin, almost frail compared to what he used to look like..then,suddenly in a year or so, he's playing for Indy at ,what, 300+ lbs?

 

[jwojdylo]

I don't think anyone is very surprised by that. To see the cover of the SI issue in which he is ripped pretty much explains it all!

 

[Texican]

No surprise. He was one of those guys you could tell was roided up just by his appearance. Going bald at age 22 with acne all over his back (SI pictures of him working out before the draft). Most hyped OL that I can ever remember and maybe the biggest bust this side of Ryan Leaf for a guy that actually hung around the league a while. I remember Reggie White tossing him around like a rag doll. Good stuff..........

Didn't the Pack pass on Barry Sanders for him?

not necessarily indicative of steroid use, common misconception...take a look at some bodybuilding mags, you don't see many of them with acne-filled backs, but you just know they're on the sauce..anyways, Tony M. was asked when did he think his career was over.he said it was in one of his first games ( if I'm not mistaken it was a preseason game), when Reggie White lined up opposite him and blew his doors off , on one of the first plays of the game..he said he knew, then and there, that his career wasn't going to go as planned..

I remember him being interviewed somewhere in Wi., on his deck, saying he can't wait for the first sunday of the NFL season, so he can kick back on his deck and watch the games with an ice-tea in his hand...he looked like he was about

200 lbs..thin, almost frail compared to what he used to look like..

then,suddenly in a year or so, he's playing for Indy at ,what, 300+ lbs?

Maybe Not